Naruto: Unto The Great Crusade
by Harbinger-of-script
Summary: After Tracking down Sasuke, Naruto and the Last Uchiha are taken from their world... The Laughter of Thirsting Gods pervades their nightmares while greater, and deadlier foes, array themselves against them. In the Grim Dark future, there is only war; but can two boys make a difference? Can they find a way home, one that does not damn their Souls for Eternity?
1. Chapter 1

H-o-S Working title: Naruto & Sasuke: The Great Crusade Script 46

 **Chapter 1**

 **Adventure to the Unknown**

 **How can this go Wrong?!**

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted from atop the great cliffs of the Valley of the End. His blond hair waved wildly in the updrafts created by the massive waterfall the bisected the valley. His ice blue eyes almost glowed with innate power as he stared down at his long time friend and one time brother. In his right hand, Naruto griped a kuni with all his strength, while in his left he held onto a rolled up bit of parchment. Across Naruto's chest ran a long thin red line. His jumpsuit and black undershirt were tore open to reveal the thin angry mark, but nary a bead of blood gathered at the slashes edge.

Across from him, on the opposite side of the valley, with a shadow overlapping his features, stood Sasuke Uchiha, the once last loyal member of Konoha's greatest clan/ally. In his own right hand, he held a kuni, this one drenched in the blood of his pseudo-brother from when he had struck him to escape.

"You finally caught up … Naruto," Sasuke stated unfeelingly. The negative energy of the curse seal having almost fully taken root in Sasuke's body at this point. He could feel the mind numbing dread that the chakra infused within his body. He knew that it was just driving him towards an early grave, but there was nothing he could do in his current state to fight against it. His will broken thanks to the genjutsu enhanced cask the sound four had placed him in on their journey to Oto.

"Yeah," Blunt as always, Naruto shot a glare at his friend with little heat behind it. He could tell that something was off, and instantly figured it had something to do with the faint black marking that stretched across his friends body. "They're going to kill you," Naruto blurted out. A feeling of dread having dropped into his gut at seeing the marks.

"I know … But I can't help it," Sasuke shivered as more of the marks ran across his chest and face.

"Let me help you, I promis, I'll get you help Sasuke … And you know I don't break my promises," Naruto almost pleaded with his friend. The raven haired boy shook as he tried to fight against the controlling effects of the chakra, but ultimately failed.

"I … I wish I could," Sasuke ground out, surprising Naruto, "But I have to go, I _have_ to. Understand Naruto, I have to get stronger," the raven haired boy said, "If not to outright kill my older brother, then to survive him."

Naruto blinked, and looked on as he saw more of the black inky marks run across his brothers skin. He knew it was impossible to plead with him like this, he knew he was not under his own power. But, Naruto would not be the most stubborn Ninja in existence if he didn't at least try.

"If I have to, I will go with you, Sasuke, and make you stronger," Naruto stated evenly. Sasuke blinked in surprise, but could only look on with a stupefied expression on his face as he tried to comprehend what Naruto had just said.

"You would give up your dream, your whole reason for becoming a Ninja, just to make me stronger?" Sasuke asked, a bit of awe finally able to break through the emotional barrier that is his prison.

"I would burn the village to the ground for the ones I care about, Sasuke, the village is just lucky I like quite a few of the people that live there," Naruto smirked ruefully at his own quip.

Sasuke on the other hand actively blanched at his friends declaration. He had always heard of Naruto's dream to become Hokage, and how he would get the villagers to like him. With that said, he never suspected that Naruto would ever think of burning the place he wanted to lead to the ground. It was so out of character for the boy Sasuke knew, that it had actually shocked him out of his Cursed form and reverted him back into his natural state.

"Why?"

"Do you remember what I had said when we were at Tazuna's house back in Wave country?" Naruto asked with a blunt sort of ferocity.

"Vaguely," Sasuke replied as he tried to dig up the long ago memory of simpler times and bloody mist. "I remember that you said something about the villagers hating you," Sasuke remarked absently. His gaze became a bit clouded as he thought back to that night. "You never explained that by the way, and no one ever said anything about it … at least, not when I was around."

"You remember the tale of the night the Kyuubi attacked, right?" Naruto asked; he looked a bit forlorn at this, like he didn't know how he was going to take whatever it was Sasuke was going to say after his big reveal.

"Yeah, I remember, Iruka said that the Fourth killed the big guy; but he and many others died in the process."

"That's only partly true … You see, when a Biju is killed, it reforms in less than five years, right where it was killed. Now, how many years has it been?" Naruto questioned his friend in earnest, almost willing him to see the logic in his statement.

"Its been thirteen … years … Oh," Sasuke looked at his ex-comrade blankly as his mind processed that.

"Do you know what a Jinjuriki is?" Naruto asked. Sasuke simply shot him a dubious look, as if the word meant nothing to him. Naruto just sighed and fell back on his bum. "A Jinjuriki is someone who is used to seal away a great and terrible power, item, or being. Literally meaning, power of human sacrifice," Naruto looked Sasuke's bewildered self right in the eye, and smiled ruefully.

"Do you know what my birthday is Teme?" he asked.

"Um, no?" the ravenette blurted out.

"Do you know what day the Kyuubi attacked?"

"October tenth?" Sasuke asked, still a little lost on where Naruto was going with his line of thought.

"Okay, now, if that day was thirteen years ago, and I am thirteen, and my day happens to be on the very same day as the Kyuubi's attack … Put in what I said about Jinjuriki's … and what do you get?" Naruto almost sneered at this. The young Uchiha could almost feel the self loathing pour off his ex-comrades body at this point. But, even with the air thick with primal tension, Sasuke did as he was asked by his friend.

"Well, first off I'd say you were born the same day as the attack, you're an orphan, I know that, so your parents died that night, and... and you are something called a Jinjuriki … Which means that you have something sealed inside of you … And if the kyuubi hasn't reformed in the last thirteen years then that means," Sasuke trailed off as he shot his friend a mortified expression. He couldn't believe it. His friend, nay, his _brother_ , had been used as a sacrifice to seal away the great demon fox that had attacked their home so many years ago.

It all clicked then, the way the villagers looked at Naruto, how they treated him, and how Naruto wanted to get above them. He wanted to prove that he wasn't the monster that the fourth sealed inside of him. And in that moment, Sasuke's respect for Naruto skyrocketed almost ten fold.

To be put under the constant hateful gaze of the village they both had loved, or love in Naruto's case, was something that Sasuke could hardly imagine. The fact that Naruto wanted to protect those same villagers, defend them against all odds, and even die for them, just made it all the more clear to Sasuke how strong Naruto was. Physically and mentally, Naruto was on a whole 'nother level than his, and it was almost frightening how large the gap was.

"Dobe, the village should bow to you," Sasuke finally answered, after having made the blond wait so long for an answer. "Seriously, you've saved them from how much death? First the Kyuubi, then the invasion, and now my sorry ass!" Sasuke flailed his arms towards the heavens in erratic gesticulations to show his irritation. His face was set in a fierce scowl, one that he had only ever used on Kakashi when he had been over six hours late to a team meeting.

Naruto himself was surprised by the outburst, and the heated gestures and scowl that his revelation engendered from his brother. What surprised him more was the amount of support he received from his supposed enemy on his treatment by the village. It was then that Naruto had noticed that the black marks had receded almost completely at that point. Their conversation having been long enough for the curse to run its course and then recede to recharge.

"Really, you think they should bow to me, the gaki, the brat, who has tormented them for years because of their treatment of me?" Naruto asked, both joking and serious at the same time.

"Yes i'm serious! Those idiots...," Sasuke trailed off as suddenly the air around them began to crackle with purple bolts of unnatural energy. Both could feel a sense of dread and foreboding wash over them as purple lightning washed over the air between them.

"Teme! Get out of there!" Naruto yelled as he also jumped to his feet and ran towards the waterfall. His legs could only carry hims so far, but as he was about to reach it, Sasuke was not far behind him. Both had ended up at the waterfall, as it was the farthest point away from the dark energy that they could get to fast enough. On either sides of the river that fed the Valley of the End, they only looked behind themselves once.

In a shocking display of agility, Naruto leaped across the river. What caused this sudden action was the wicked looking bolt of purple energy that carved its way through the air and right towards Sasuke's back. What neither of the two thought would happen was that the energy would follow them ot the ground and engulf them in sickly purple light.

"Grab on!" Naruto cried as the energy began to burn him. Sasuke screamed as the energy raced across his skin, giving him little pin sized blisters wherever any of the power touched him. He listened to the blond and latched onto him, but what happened next was not something he thought he would ever see.

"I need some of your power fox!" the blond cried out. In an instant a coat of orange-red chakra engulfed Naruto. The thick coat lessened the severance of the powers effects on his body, and in an act of desperation, he pushed the cloak of chakra over onto Sasuke, to try and protect him as well.

Surprisingly, this worked as the cloak fought off the dark energy that tried to harm him.

AS the long bolt of dark purple energy racked over their bodies, with a lessened effect, they were both shocked to see the rest of the purple energy collect into a sort of cloud; one that slowly moved towards them. They were both horrified when the energy swarmed them, engulfed them. It got so thick that they could no longer see the outside world through the purple haze.

"Hold on!" Both boys shouted to each other, though neither could hear the other scream. In a loud cry of ephemeral power and unbridled rage, fear, and euphoric pleasure, a clash of opposing colors assaulted the duo. Around them, they could see the taint of the warp, creatures of shapes and sizes that they had never seen before, of colors they thought impossible, and of genders unimaginable.

Both Sasuke and Naruto drifted through the warp in a ball of demonic energy crafted from the Kyuubi's chakra. Even if it had been a last ditch effort to save their skin, literally, it was now fighting off the insidious effects of the warp, even if they themselves did not know this.

They tumbled and fell through the never ending multicolored realm. In a never ending embrace of torturous light and sound, the duo were exposed to the worst of the warp. Even the Kyuubi no Kitsune was stunned by the depravities visited upon the denizens that thrived in the multicolored hell. It was through sheer luck, and force of will, that the Kyuubi's chakra cloak did not break or shred under the malignant weight of the warp.

" _We need to get out of here kit!_ " The Kyuubi growled out in a panic. " _You and the Uchiha brat won't be able to take much more of my chakra; and at this rate, you'll both be dead!_ " The fox seethed. He was afraid. The Kyuubi no Kitsune was more than afraid actually; he was fucking terrified. They were in a place where true demons, creatures of peoples nightmares, lived and breathed, and did whatever it was they so felt like doing to anything they could get their … claws on.

Even to the Kyuubi, it was more than a great shock that his chakra was able to repel the monsters that dwelled around them.

"Where do you think we'll-" Naruto was cut off as suddenly the world around them jumped five feet to the left. And with an elastic like snap, Sasuke and Naruto fell down and landed in a pile of snow. The two could feel the cold air hit their bare arms and backs, where their cloths had been burned away by the wrath of the warp. They looked around and found that they were atop a mountain, some ways away from a large settlement of some kind.

"Where the hell are we?" Naruto asked in a daze. He disentangled himself from Sasuke and tried to right himself, but only made himself roll over and land face first in the puffy white.

"How should I know!" Sasuke groused as she tried to stand up, he was only successful in making himself dizzy, and puke all over the snow.

The duo's transfer from the warp to their current position atop the mountain was a very disorienting one. Let alone the extreme climate change from searing hot to freezing cold, their bodies were hard at work to keep them alive.

" _Kit, keep still, I'll try and get you situated!_ " The calm voice of the Kyuubi cut through Naruto's drowsiness. Naruto found that he could do no less than follow the Kyuubi's order, as his body was in too much distress to do much else.

"Just lay there for a bit Sasuke … We're kind of jacked up right now thanks to whatever it is we just went through. So take a load off," Naruto lazily groaned as he closed his eyes against the blindingly bright light.

Sasuke hn'd at Naruto, he was annoyed, but not nearly as much as he was glad that the two of them had made it out of their predicament as well as they did. Dressed in the dregs of what was once his house cloths, Sasuke shivered at the cold air and ice that touched his bare skin.

"Can we at least make a fire!?" He asked irritatedly.

"Once we can move, sure, don't see why not, dattebayo," Naruto mumbled as he tried to breath off the crushing sensation that the warp had left upon him. Sasuke nodded breathlessly and went about doing the same.

The mountain peak that the two Ninja warriors found themselves on was mostly barren, save for a few rocks, the mountain tip's spire, and a slopping cave entrance not twenty feet from their spot on the cold hard ground. A ways off into the distance stood a large settlement of some kind that looked like something they would have found in the Land of Iron. The absolutely hellacious amounts of snow around them even reminded them of the cold as ice land as well.

The duo huffed and puffed misty breaths into the cool air as they tried to regain their faculties. Both were sore and tired from their unexpected journey through the warp, even if they themselves had no idea what had just happened. The horrors they had witnessed were mentally scaring to the duo. They put those thoughts from their minds though as they let their bodies heal. It was not good to dwell on the evil, it led to thoughts best left in the dark.

"What should we do?" Naruto almost moaned out. His chest was bare and the small slash that Sasuke had made was now wider than it was before, it was also an angry red that actually frightened the raven haired boy.

"First, we make a fire, and second I look at the injury of yours … It looks infected," Sasuke growled as he clambered to his feet unsteadily.

"Don't wear yourself out, teme," Naruto chuckled painfully, he coughed as his chest began to get worse. Sasuke frowned in confusion, as he realized that the fox, or the dobe's own healing abilities should be taking care of him right now. The fact that they weren't was actual a point of confusion, but something that could be dealt with later once the blond was properly looked after by him.

"Just stay still Dobe, it looks like you got an infection in that cut," Sasuke groaned as he ambled over to his friend. It was a mystery to the Uchiha on how the cut had already been infected, his Kuni was clean, he made sure of that, and nothing had gotten in the cut before they had... Sasuke ran a hand through his hair as he figured out what must have happened.

"I think something from that hellhole we traveled through somehow got a hold of your dumb-ass, its done I have no clue what to you, but i'm going to have to clean the wound as best I can," Sauske looked at Naruto's quickly paling face and affirmed his resolve. "I'm going to have to cut it open and carve out the infection, and its going to hurt like a motherfucker."

"Bring it on … I can take it, Dattebayo!" Naruto growled out in a faint voice. He coughed as his chest constricted from the pain. Sasuke had to hold the blond down so that he didn't smash his head against the hard stone.

Stop talking and just breath dobe!" the Uchiha brat growled as he took out a Kuni. He then stuck the finger loop in the ground a foot away and preformed a series of hand-signs. With a quick inhelation of air, he fired off a small, but long, stream of fire at the blade of the kuni.

He picked up the kuni and hefted it like a long scalpel. With a few slashes he was ableto successfully open up Naruto's wound and get a look at the infection inside. What he saw almost made him sick.

There in his friends wounds were what looked like fly larva wiggling about. This also pissed him off more than he had ever thought possible. Subconsciously he turned on his sharingan and went about scooping the little bastards out with his superheated kuni. He took great pleasure in ridding the wound of the little blighters.

"Fuck, whatever got a hold of your ass was a sadistic motherfucker. Somehow infected you with some kind of larva shit that was eating you... Good thing I got those bastards out!" Sasuke mumbled. Naruto could only moan in pain and fear at what his friend slash brother said.

"Now to seal your ass back up," Sasuke sighed. He dug through his pouches and found a set of senbon needles, exactly what he was looking for. He took one and curved the end, after he had heated it up with his fire technique, and then used his kuni to whittle a hole in the opposite end. Once the hole was big enough, he hammered the other senbon through it to open up the hole completely. Once done, he cut a piece of his shirt of and tore it down to just the threads. He then took the longest thread and slipped it through the hole in the senbon.

"This is going to hurt like a bitch," Sasuke muttered, just loud enough for Naruto to hear. He then started on sowing up the blonds wounds. It was a slow process, but it was nothing that he hadn't had to do before on any of their other missions.

Once done, Sasuke took his kuni and heated it up again to a red hot color. "Now this … This is going to knock your ass out Dobe, so don't go dying on me!"He growled. He did not lie what he was about to do, but it had to be done if he wanted the blond idiot to live. Without a warning, he took the red hot blade and seared the sewn up wound shut, almost cooking the skin together so that no more infection could get in.

Naruto almost shot up form his prone spot on the ground, his face wrought in a look of abject pain. He screamed, his lips bloody from where he had most likely bit his tongue to keep quite before. But now he had no such restraint as the hot metal seared his skin shut. Sasuke had to knock him down so as to not stick him with the kuni.

"Lay down!" He shouted. He restrained Naruto and quickly finished his sloppy medical work. He sighed and looked to Naruto's face to gauge his reaction. When he saw that the blond was unconscious from the ordeal, he sighed in relief. That would mean that he wouldn't have to go through the pain that came after as his skin tightened up and healed from the torture it had just gone through.

"Now, lets find a place to get out of the cold …," Sasuke muttered to himself. He looked around the peak they sat on and saw that there was a small cave-like opening that went down into the mountain.

The revenette looked at Naruto and sighed. He made a mental promise to keep an eye on the blond. He looked from the hole to Naruto and back again. With a sigh of defeat, he slowly trudged over to the hole to get a better look.

Leaning over the edge, Sasuke saw that it actually was not as steep as he had thought. It gradually descended down into the mountain, into an inky blackness. Creating a flame that sat in the palm of his hand, Sasuke traversed the grade and slowly walked down into the cave.

With each step, Sasuke could feel the cold recede from his body. He couldn't tell if it was because of the cave, the fame in his hand, or if he was coming down with hypothermia from the exposure to the extreme cold. Either way, the cave would have to suffice for a place to take Naruto until he was fully healed.

With his decision made, Sasuke trekked back up to the surface. What he saw when he breached the surface, was not something he thought possible. At first, the last Uchiha was frozen in fright at what he saw.

Standing over his friend was a giant in what could only be armor. It was taller than some of the great summons of the Hidden Leaf, and held a massive sword across its back, a large knife across its thigh, and what could only be some sort of projectile spitting weapon in its left hand.

Its armor was snow colored with a depiction of a wolf displayed on the right shoulder pad. A larger depiction of a wolfs head was emblazoned across a large white furred coat. What had stopped the last Uchiha in fear was what it was doing to the blond.

In the monsters other hand was a large metal flask looking container, and it was about to pour whatever it was inside the container onto Naruto.

"Get away from him!" Sasuke shouted with urgent rage!" The giant creature twisted around in a snap quick action that would have shocked the Uchiha at any other time because of the speed. It dropped the flask and, for a second, it looked like it was about to make a calming gesture, but was cut off when Sasuke's chakra enhanced fist collided with the giants head.

The giants head snapped back at the surprising hit, as it was moved by the shear force of physical might the boy had shown. Sasuke then followed this up with a swift kick to the giants chest that sent it back a step.

Sasuke ignored the intense pain in his hand and foot from hitting the monsters armor, and kept at his onslaught. He then round house kicked the monsters weapon out of its hand, he caught the weapon and tossed it over the edge of the mountain peak. The monster tried to grab for him, but the Uchiha slipped under his grapple and punched at his opponents elbow with a kuni he had drawn from his hip pouch.

The knife slipped in between the tough mesh that held the armor together and bit into the flesh of the monster underneath. Sasuke then jumped away, not wanting to get caught by the surprise he had left for the giant. In his arms was now Naruto, in his catatonic state.

"Take this you giant fuck, _boom_!" With a surprised look up from the monster, the explosive tag on the Kuni exploded and covered the monster in thick black smoke.

" _Great Fireball Jutsu!_ " Sasuke shouted just before he launched a massive ball of fire at his opponent. In his weakened state though, that was all he could do. He leaned agaisnt the peak of the mountain, too tired to continue, and prayed to kami that he had taken out the monster. Granted, he knew in his gut that he had only pissed it off if anything at all.

Sasuke slumped down to the ground, his knees having given out on him. He barely kept his eyes open as his energy left him. But what he saw come from the smoke shook him to his core.

There in the clearing, stood now two of the giants. What struck the boy as odd was how the second one was pointing at the first like he was making fun of him or something. What shocked him, though, was the amount of damage _not_ done to the giant by the explosive tag. There was barely even any soot on its armor! The kuni was still stuck in the joint, but it was taken out with a careful hand by the second giant. The two looked the weapon over with something akin to interest. The first made a small gesture towards the two boys, and then back to the weapon. The second seemd to laugh at this and then tried to break it with his fingers.

When he could not, he seemed to grow surprised. He then grabbed each end with his massive hands and tried to break it. It was with a bit of effort on the monsters part that it was able to break the small, in its hands, weapon.

It was at this point that the last Uchiha passed out from lack of energy.

Garviel Loken, Captain of the tenth company Luna Wolves legion, lookedon in wonder at how such a small boy had surprised him. Beside him stood his friend Tarik Torgaddon. The taller Astartes laughed at how a child had gotten a hit on a full blooded Astartes, even managed to push him back.

"What happened Garvi, did the kid knock something loose in that thick head of yours?" Tarik asked in a teasing manner. He had taken off his helmet and was now smirking uncontrollably at the shorter Astartes.

"That was no normal punch Tarik," Garviel said as he looked to his friend. "He actually made me step back, from brute force no less, with a kick to my sternum. How can you explain that?" Garviel asked his friend intently.

Tarik blinked and stared at his smaller friend for but a moment before answering. "Well, unless he's some sort of experiment, then he must have some seriously dense bones and muscles. That's the only thing I can think of. Either way, if we leave them here, they will die," Tarik said.

"Also, did you understand what the little boy had said?" Gariel asked as they walked towards the boys.

"No, it sounded similar to something the Khans have, like their battle speak may be … But other than that, no clue," The big man stated.

Standing at just under twelve feet, Garviel Loken was a monster of a man, but just below average for a Legions Astartes. It was then no surprise that the boys looked like mere babes in his arms when he picked them up. Tarik, being taller of the two, actually stood at an even thirteen feet. Just a bit over a head taller than Garviel.

"Aye, and did you see the wound on the blond one, looks like a patch job, but with what we saw on the ground, it was warranted. I've never seen such larva before, And the fact that the boy had burned them tells me that he's either seen them, or was just as disgusted as we were," Tarik rambled on. "And did you see that power he used? It was like he could summon flame from nothing and throw it around like it was nothing!" Tarik said in awe.

"Yes, we will have to ask him how he does that once we get them taken care of. Both are in need of some serious medical attention," Garviel sighed as he and Tarik began their trek down the mountain.

As they got to the ledge, Garviel handed Tarik the black haired boy while he himself held onto the blond. He then easily climbed down the side to the next outcropping. Tarik jumped and landed soundly next to him. Both made their way to the next jump point and continued on for the next hour.

It was a boring journey filled with small talk and jabs about Garviel's need to get hit in the face by a small child. In response, Loken had flipped the larger man the bird. Tarik laughed uproariously at the gesture and replied in kind.

It was late in the day by the time the two finally got far enough away from the magnetic center of the mountain, they were able to get a better signal through their suits' built in Vox unit.

"This is Captain Garviel Loken, Captain of the Tenth Company, Luna Wolves Legions Astartes. I am here with Captain Tarik Torgaddon, Captain of the Second Company, Luna Wolves Legions Astartes. We are in need of a Thunderhawk transport with an Apothecary on board. We are in possession of two young boys that seem to have gotten lost on the mountain," Once he was finished talking, and Garviel received an affirmative response, he closed the Vox unit down and huddled up next to a sitting Tarik.

"I don't know if he's going to make it Garvi, he's gotten pretty pale...," Tarik stated. He bobbed his head in the direction of the blond boy in his arms. Indeed the boys lips had gone a pale blue color and his wound had become a deathly white color. His skin had taken on a waxy pallor, and his hair had even lost some of its brilliance.

"I think you're right Tarik. I just hope we're wrong. No one should die this young, and besides, we need answers. Like where they came from, how they got there, who they are, and how that boy did what he did," Garviel said seriously. He wanted to ask the two boys a host of questions, but if they were to die, then that would just be a pipe dream at best.

"Besides, if that boy can take you by surprise, then think of what he could do as an Astartes!" Tarik stated with a massive grin. He laughed at what he imagined Garviel's face to look like under his helmet. "And ya'know, I was regretting coming up here with you in the beginning Garvi, but after all this craziness, I'm glad I went on that hike!" Tarik laughed again at some joke in his head.

Garviel just sighed and shook his head at the laid back Captain of the Second Company.

Minutes went by before Tarik said anything else. HE was too busy inspecting the boy he was carrying to do much else anyway. But what he said did bring a curious eye from his friend.

"Garviel, look at this … It looks like some sort of tattoo on the kids neck," Tarik gestured to the raven haired boys left shoulder. It looked like three asterisks arrayed in a triangle pattern. It was very odd, and didn't look like any sort of tribal tattoo that either Astartes had ever seen.

"What do you think it could be?" Garviel asked.

"Maybe some sort of ownership mark? Or some kind of status symbol?" Tarik guessed. Neither man was knowledgeable enough of the two boys' past to give a definitive answer.

"Let me check this one over to make sure there isn't one on him too," Garviel went about looking the boy over, even going so far as to flip him over in his arms to get a more extensive look.

"Well?" Tarik asked when the Captian of the Tenth was done.

"Well, no marks that I can see, but the boy is covered in hundreds of different scars, burns, and other signs of past injury. Did you notice anything like that on him?" Loken asked.

"Hmm, yeah, he has a few scars, but mostly around his arms and legs. There was one on his back and a couple on his chest and abdomen. He has a lot of little puncture hole type scars littered across his body, but I couldn't tell you what they're from unless I actually saw the weapon that caused them," It was not often that a battle scare could confuse the Second Captain, but when it did happen, it was worth noting. Garviel nodded in understanding of his friends words,

A few minutes later, their ride off the mountain side arrived. The boxy shape of the Thunderhawk circled overhead fro a minute or so before it touched down on the opposite side of the outcropping from them. The transports liveries were that of the Seventh Company, Serghar Targost's company colors. Garviel grimaced behind his helmet at the sight of the Seventh. He respected Serghar for his laurels in battle, but he did not like how the man conducted himself off the battlefield. He was blunt and tactless when talking with almost everyone, including their Primarch Horus. It was a wonder that Serghar was even alive after some of the words he had traded with the mighty son of the Emperor.

"Looks like its the Seventh to the rescue again brother," Tarik snarked happily. He knew of Garviel's dislike of the Company's captain, and liked to rib him about it whenever possible.

As ther two of them got to their feet, warning klaxons rang out from the front of the transport. Pressurized gas escaped from the release latches on the door just before it was lowered by the crew inside. From within a group of six figures walked out. The first two were Apothecaries, one of the Seventh, and the other from the Second.

"Brother, here!" The Captain of the tenth waved the two healers over quickly.

"What is his condition Brother?" The Apothecary from the Seventh asked with a slight edge, like he really didn't want to be there right then.

"Hypothermia, slash wound that seems to have been infected by some sort of warp based pathogen. And some other injuries that need looking at. The other is exhausted and also suffering from hypothermia," Loken informed them. He quickly handed the boy off to the healer while the other went and took the black haired boy from Tarik.

"Alright, everyone back on the ship!" Serghar Targost commanded with a stern demeanor. His helmet-less head showcased his blunt features and closely cropped black hair. He waved everyone towards the loading ramp, though he spared the Captain of the tenth a special sneer, and quickly got them all buckled in for takeoff.

Once the ship had settled down at Cthonia planetary control. A hive city that resided at the polar north of the planet. Once they had touched down, Garviel, Tarik, and their charges were taken to the closest infirmary. Once there, a long list of tests and checks were wrought about on the two young boys.

The blond was diagnosed with some form of warp infection, one that was thought to have been almost entirely eradicated by the other boy. The fact that this was even a possibility shocked the two Apothecaries. Being infected by some warp born disease usually left the inflicted with a less than one percent chance at survival rate. The fact that a mere child had gone about litterally carving the disiease out of the blond was surprising, the fact that he had done it so thoroughly to have staved off most of the disease was even more awe inspiring for the Astartes.

"Are we sure these boys are human?" The Apothecary from Seventh Company asked with uncertainty.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it would be a good idea to run a few blood tests to make sure. Match them up against all known varients of Humanity," Tarik commanded with ease.

"And make sure they are not warp tainted … We don't need a mutant on our planet," Serghar Targost stated with disgust at the thought of a warp mutant defiling their homeworld.

Loken shot Tarik an appreciative glance before he shot a glare at Serghar from behind his helm. Just as Serghar was about to leave, a Housecarl rushed into the room with a look of panic on his face.

"Second Captain Torgaddon, Seventh Captain Targost! His Lordship Horus Lupercal wishes to meet with you both in the stratagem!" The average sized human bowed roughly to the two giants in armor. He waited for their reply to their 'father's' summons.

"I will stay here and look over the boys, Second Captain," Garviel bowed his head in difference to his friend and senior Brother.

"Very well, take care of them Garvi, we don't want to lose them do we," Tarik asked cheekily to his Brother Captian. Garviel just sighed in mock annoyance and waved the laughing man out of the infirmary.

Tarik, Serghar, and the Housecarl left the room at a fast pace, their destination the Startagem aboard the Vengeful Spirit which floated in orbit over Cthonia.

As time moved ever onwards, Garviel could tell that the Apothecary working over the blond was becoming slightly paniced. His movements became jerky, his feet tapped at the bulkheads, and his helmet would slightly jerk from left to right as he worked over the boy.

"Apothecary, what is wrong?" he asked the healer.

"His body is fighting the disease … at an extraordinary rate as well, but he is losing the battle against the virus. His body is producing an larger amount of anti-bodies than it should be able to, but with the insane reproduction rate that the warp based infection has, it is out fighting the boys immune system. I have also determined that both the boys are almost fully Human, there is a bit of deviation in a fer of their chromosomes, but it is still within the acceptable parameters for human reproduction nad induction into the Astartes ranks. Granted-"  
"Brother Captin, the raven haired one is awake!" The other Apothecary exclaimed as the boy he was looking over had suddenly swiped at his face with barely restrained rage.

"What did you do to him!" The boy screamed. He had an accent that Garviel had neverh eard before, but his High Gothic was almost perfect.

"What are you talking-" The boy looked at the healer and glared at him balefully, his rage actually surprised the man and stopped him mid sentence. It was like looking his primarch in the eye while he was in a rage. The amount of killing intent the boy was release was almost physically palatable in the air.

"Naruto! What did you do to him you monsters!" the boy growled. His hand flashed to his thigh and pulled out another of the same weapons he had used on Garviel earlier that day.

"Put the weapon down boy. We don't want you getting hurt," The Apothecary from the Seventh growled.

"Steady Brother, he does not know what is going on," Loken sighed as he clasped his helmet. With a quick jerk,twist and lift, he removed his helmet. The boy seemed to look on in shock at the face under the mask.

"What are you!" He yelled, his rage still rolling around in his eyes for all to see.

"I am an Astartes of the Luna Wolves Legion, Captain of the Tenth Company. You are currently located in one the Infirmary's of Cthonia's most northern Hive city. You and your friend were in critical condition, myself and my friend Tarik Torgaddon, Captain of the Second Company, took you in and have provided you with care here. Might I know your name?" Garviel asked with a peaceable tone of voice. The boy snarled and almost seethed with anger but seemed to control it rather well.

"My name, is Sasuke Uchiha, Shinobi of Konohagakure," He growled.

"And your friends name?" he asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki, also a Shinobi of Konohagakure, and the only person to ever understand me," the boy, now named Sasuke stated with venom dripping from his words in excess. He apperently hated giving out information. But in light of being held by three of the same giants that had first walked away from his fireball unscathed, he felt it was wise to relent to their demands.

"Do you know what happened to your friend?" The healer from the Seventh asked with trepidation marring his tone.

"We were in a clearing back home, not a few miles from our home village, when this massive purple haze with arcs of energy running through it appeared. We tried to run form it, but a bolt of energy tried to hit me. Naruto I guess saw this and tackled me out of the way, but it was for naught as it entrapped us and began to burn us. At first I thought we were going to die, but when naruto called on this red energy it began to protect us. But that seemed to only piss off the miasma like cloud because it came over us end took us away form there and into some weird hell like place where creatures of all shapes, sizes, and genders preformed terrible horrors on what I think were people...," Sasuke shivered at this. Garviel and the rest of the Apothecarian were enthralled by the boys story, as it made it sound like he and the other boy had been taken to the warp in their physical bodies, and not been attacked.

"How did you survive the Warp?" The apothecary from the Second Company asked with fervor.

"The what? Warp? Seems apt... But the only reason I can think of is because of that red energy Naruto called on. It continued to engulf us as we traveled, but we didn't go for much longer as we soon ended up on a mountain, and wer found by one of your kind."

"One of our kind?" Both Apothecaries asked. Confused on this, they looked to the Captain for answers.

"Ah, you mean when I was trying to check over your friend there, yes, you reacted rather brashly," Garviel said with a self depreciating sigh. "I've never had a citizen strike me with such strength before, I must commend you on that by the way," The captain rubbed at his chin in remembrance of the incident from just hours before.

"YOU!" Sasuke shouted in surprise. He looked at the man in awe, as he had thought the one he had harmed would be angry with him; not praise him for his ability to land a hit.

"Yes, I, but please, what happened to your friend, his wound where di he get it?"

"Heh ad gotten it from me, but!" He shouted when he saw the disapproving look on Garviel's face. "It was only a thin little cut when I gave it to him. It was only after we left that hell-hole that I noticed how it had changed. I checked him over, cut the infection open and dug out the putrid flesh I found. I dug it out with a superheated Kuni and then cleaned the wound as best I could. I went about sealing his sorry ass up the best I could. That's about the extent of what I could do for him."

Garviel looked at the boy with an appreciative eye, as he knew the boy had saved his friends life with his quick thinking. He knew that he would have to ask about the supposed red energy later, but first he had to take care of the blonds imminent demise.

"Zarkar, how is the blond looking?"

He's in bad shape sir; like I told you, he is loosing his fight agaisnt the disease, he needs some sort of emergency measure taken or he will die. The only things I can think of are if we preform an emergency augmentation process on him. If we go about it in reverse order, and leave the major augments for last, he would have the greatest chance of survival."

"What do you mean!" Sasuke asked with a heated glare. "What's wrong with Naruto!"

"He's dying boy, and if we don't do anything soon, he will be too far gone for us to help!" Zarkar growled at the boys disrespect. Being of the Seventh Company, the Apothecary was not one for disrespect.

"You said this Augmentation thing could save him, right?!" Sasuke stared right into Garviel's eyes intently, as if reading his very soul. It put the Captain off somewhat, but it solidified his resolve at the same time.

"Yes, if we preform the procedure in revese order, and implant the Astartes organs first, he would be able to utilize their increased healing factor to help rid his own body of the pathogens. The only concern is if he body would reject them," Zarkar growled in irritation, not at the boy, but at his ineptitude to know the exact outcome of his patient.

"Do it."

Everyone there looked at the raven haired boy in surprise. It was against what they thought he would say, thinking that he would want some sort of lower class healing method, instead of what the Apothecary was suggesting.

"Why?" Garviel asked.

"You said that the organs are apart of a procedure right, something to do with Astartes right?" The boy asked. Garviel nodded, surprised at how he had put that together. "And you said you were an Astartes. I may not be the smartest kid from my graduating class, but I know what the word Augmentation means … What you want to do to Naruto would turn him into one of you, wouldn't it?" Sasuke asked, his eyes empty, like the void. His deductions left the Captain and Apothecaries surprised, even a bit shocked. The child had quickly deducted what the procedure would do, and what the end result would be, something that most of those that came to join the legion didn't pick up on.

"Yes, yes I am, and yes, it would turn him into one of us, but to what extent we do not know. Nor do we know if he would survive the full procedure," Garviel, Captain of the Tenth Company Luna Wolves said with utmost certainty.

"How much pain would it cause him?" The boy asked.

"Like his whole body was on fire, and his bones were melting in his skin," The Apothecary from the Second said with muted honesty.

"Then he'll survive," Those simple few words perplexed the three astartes. It must have shown on Garviel's face, for Sasuke looked at him and smirked knowingly. "He's been through hell before, had himself set on fire, encased in ice, and blown up too many times to count by himself and others. It would take someone of your strength ripping him apart to actually put him down, he's just too damned stubborn and thick headed to die otherwise," Sasuke chuckled at the end, as if apart of some inside joke the rest of them were not apart of. The Three Astartes looked between the two boys, and contemplated his words.

"Alright, Zarkar, get everything ready," Garviel said without hesitation. Both Apothecaries stared at him from behind their helmets for a moment, but complied and quickly went about getting everything in order. Garviel stood next to the black ahired boy so as to stay out of the healers ways.

"We will move to an adjacent room, there we can watch over the boys progress and you will be able to your rest," The Captain of the Tenth told the boy with heavily accented authority. All he got out of the boy was a very low 'Hn' that sounded more like a grunt than anything else. The giant of a man went to help the boy down, but was surprised when he just vaulted off the high table and landed on the ground in a crouch. Captain Loken gave a low huff in surprise, but said and did nothing to show it. He simply motioned for the boy to walk towards the door that led out of the room.

Garviel quickly put on his helmet after that and signaled for one of the Legion's Psykers to meet him in the viewing room. He also alerted said Psyker to cloak himself so as not to be seen while in there.

With his orders received and met with approval after a bit of explaining, Garviel closed the channel and met the young boy outside. He was leaned against the opposite wall, hands in what remained of his pant's pockets, with a scowl on his face. He looked rather serious and thoughtful, something that wasn't out of place on the child's face in the time that Garviel had known him.

"Shall we go?" he asked.

"Hn," the boy answered with what could be considered gusto. With an inaudible sigh, the Luna Wolves Captain led the revenette onwards towards their destination. They went left down the corridor, and turned left to enter a small access way that led to a short flight of stairs. Garviel took his time putting in the access code for the door, as to let his Battle Brother to access the room from the opposite side. They took their time walking up the large steps, as it proved a bit difficult for the newly conscious boy to scale them. The duo came to another door, this one needed the Tenth Captains own genetic signature to open, as it was a secured room meant for staff and Legions Astartes only. Once the door had cycled, and let him know that the room was occupied, something that Sasuke did not realize, or did not pay attention to.

The duo walked in and closed the door behind them. Sasuke took up residence close to the glass window that overlooked the Infirmary slash impromptu ICU. Garviel scanned the room promptly in search of his friend. There, in an unnaturally dark corner sat his Psyker brother. Garvi noted that the boy shot a confused look towards the corner, his gaze lingered for but a moment before he turned away and towards the window.

" _He subconsciously knows I am here, but it seems his conscious mind does not percieve me. Interesting boy Captain Loken,_ " The Second Company Librarian mused over the Vox network. Garviel Loken chuckled to himself silently; he knew for a fact that this child was different, in so many ways.

The Tenth Captian took up a spot just behind Sasuke and to his left. His large hand engulfed the boys shoulders as he watched the Apothecaries prep for Naruto's surgeries. Loken sighed almost inaudibly at the sight of such a drastic measure. He knew it was to save the boys life, but it seemed so out of the ordinary that the whole event just burned itself into his mind.

"Captain Loken," Sasuke muttered lowly to the giant suddenly. Loken looked down at the boy, half expecting his gaze to be locked on his face. What he got was a boy who was looking straight ahead and not flinching in the slightest as needles and other instruments were stuck into his friend.

"Yes?" He asked the boy.

"There is someone sitting in the far corner of this room. They are under some sort of shroud … I cannot tell if they are friend or foe, Should I be provoked, I will defend myself from them," The boy stated factually. It was not a threat, nor a promise, just a statement of universal fact.

Garviel and the Librarian were both shocked by the boys words, not for his threatening, but for his acute ability to sense the presence of a hidden entity; and not just any hidden entity, but one hidden by use of the Warp.

"How did you know there was someone there boy," Asked the Librarian as he came out of his hiding spot. Sasuke, though a bit shaken by the sheer size of the man, did not give any indication of fear at being put on the spot.

"I have been taught from a young age to notice things out of the ordinary. And when a shadow that shouldn't be as dark or as deep appears in a room, one has to wonder at its purpose," Sasuke smirked. Both Astartes' blinked at the explanation, as it was not something they had expected from such a young boy. Garviel was more surprised as he had felt the strength behind the boys punch before, but to know he was taught the art of stealth, coupled with his strength, struck the giant as fearsome indeed.

"If you knew I was here, why not confront me?" The Librarian asked.

"I did not know if Captain Loken know you were there, so I played it safe until his was between me and you. He is much bigger, and sturdier, than I … And covered in armor. Granted, that doesn't always help," Sasuke smirked at some unknowable joke in his mind. Both Space Marines could understand the boys logic, and were astounded by his forward thinking mind.

"Though, if it were Naruto in here, you might have ended up with a new hole in the wall," Sasuke chuckled. He turned away from the other giant and back towards the window. From this viewpoint Sasuke, Loken, and the Librarian, were able to watch as the two Apothecaries went about cutting the blond open.

"Do you think he will survive this Captain?" The Librarian said.

"I do not know Librarian Falkus," Garviel said, his uncertainty was substantial, and blatant on his face for all to see.

"He'll make it. Like I told you earlier, Naruto is too tough to die. His stubbornness won't let him quite, not without a knife in his hands," The child's certainty surprised the two Astartes. It was not often that one heard such faith in another. It was, for the Astartes, to see such trust in another outside of their own ranks.

"What is this boy to you, child?" Librarian Falkus asked. He had, in the time between their last conversation and now, removed his helmet. His face was worn, like an old cloth beaten against the wind for far too long. His eyes were a stormy gray that radiated power immeasurable. His chin was squar, his cheeks gaunt, and his brow high and wrinkled from long hours thinking over difficult subjects.

Sasuke personaly thought he looked like a slightly younger version of the late Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Just with a broader face and less hair.

"Naruto?" He asked.

"Yes."

"He is … The only one to have ever understood my pain," He said, which confused the two Astartes. "We are both Orphans. His parents died when he was born, and mine were killed by my own brother," Both Astartes were shocked by the last revelation. "It is because of this shared pain that we are as close as brothers. If we didn't have each other, we would both be dead a hundred times over," Sasuke said with a confusing smile.

"Why would your brother kill your family?" Asked the Librarian. Even as the words left his mouth, he knew he had said the wrong thing.

"My brother didn't just kill my family, Falkus, he murdered my whole clan. A clan that was over two hundred strong, and filled with fighters more than twice my own strength and skill. HE butchered them, in cold blood, right before my eyes, and said it was to test his power," Sasuke seethed with a blood rage. He kept his rage under control, though, thanks to the thought of what would happen to Naruto if he snapped.

Librarian Falkus, and Captain Loken of the Tenth both blanched heavily at the thought of one of their own ever killing their Brothers. It was an alien thought to them, one that felt rancid on the tongue, even without the words being spoken. It was something that twisted their guts and made their Humors run rampant. But to think of whitnessing their whole legions destruction right before their very eyes, and then be told it was for a simple act of testing ones power, they felt ever sicker at the very idea.

"How have you not gone for vengeance against him?" Loken asked, his voice trembled as he spoke, but he kept his tone even and unbroken.

"I did, but he," Sasuke pointed out the window at Naruto. "He, he stopped me before it was too late. He pulled me back form the edge. If not for him, I would have become a monster."

"Truly, you are like brothers then," Falkus said with an awed air.

"Not even by blood or oath, and you defend each other, and save each other," Garviel spoke with simple awe at the heroism shown by the two boys.

"Save each other?" Sasuke asked with a snort. "I owe that idiot my life, there is no saving each other, he saves me, and I just make sure he doesn't kill himself!" Sasuke chuckled derisively at that. Both Luna Wolves blinked in surprise at the admission. They then smiled indulgently and went silent for a time.

The group of three watched as the two Apothecaries worked tirelessly over the Blond boy. They first introduced the Secondary heart, and placed it under the left breast after they had moved the first over under the right. The next to be implanted was the Ossmodula. It was placed behind the lungs. The Biscopea was next, and it was placed directly under the left heart. The Apothecaries seemed to argue for a few minutes, but seemed to agree on something before they restarted their prodeedure.

Two small organs, called Haemastamen were placed directly on the blonds hearts, both inter-weaved into the circulatory system to aid with his healing. Next was the Larraman's Organ, this was also doubled and placed under both hearts. Then with a quick hand, they sealed up the incisions and turned Naruto over.

Sasuke stared as all this happened, he glared and memorized each and every cut, suture, implant, and position of each and every organ. Out of the two Astartes present, only Garviel Loken, Captain of the Tenth, noticed this taking place. He looked down at the boy and raised a brow behind his helmet.

"What are you doing Sasuke?" He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Just watching," Sasuke said, though Garviel knew it was a lie. He did not press, as it would be irrelevant once Falkus took a look within his mind.

AS they turned back they witnessed the Catalepsean Node being placed into the back of Naruto's head. Sasuke's eyes widened, but showed no more emotion than that. Next a trio of implants were sorted into Naruto's head. The Occulobe, the Sus-an Membrane, and the Lyman's Ear, were all introduced. The Sus-an was placed right above the brain, at his crown, while the others were moved deeper into the recesses of his brain matter.

After a quick check to for infections and other odities, they stitched him up and flipped him back over. They cut him open once more and implanted one more organ, the Multi-lung, right over the lungs.

"Are they finished?" Sasuke asked as they saw the two Apothecaries stitch the blond boy back up and wash him down.

"No, there are more organs to implant, but for now, what has been implanted will aid him in his recovery. He will soon begin the transformation into a full on Astartes. Which brings us to a new predicament," Garviel looked from Sasuke to Falkus. "Falkus here needs to talk with you young Sasuke. Do you know what Telepethy is?" Garviel asked suddenly. Sasuke shot him a surprised look, but nodded.

"Yeah, I read about it in one of my clan's directories. If I remember, there were some people that had the ability to go into someones mind and search out memories to figure out the truth. Is that what Fakus here can do, go into my mind?"

Both Astartes were surprised by this, not just for the foreknowledge, but for the fact that he even knew what the giant could do. What perplexed them though was his lack of fear at his mind being invaded.

"I've had my mind invaded before. It was after the Massacure of my clan, so...," Sasuke shrugged. He knew it was irrelevent to keep information from them at this point, the fact that they had technology centuries beyond anything he had seen, and people like the Yamanaka Clan at their disposal just cemented one simple fact in his mind. If he lied, in any way, shape, or form, he would be dead sooner or later. And Naruto along with him. He would not jeopardize their chances just because of his arrogance, or his pride. Truth would save them in this instance, or nothing else would.

"Oh? Is that right?" Falkus asked. The large man took off his gauntlet and handed it to Garviel. With a gentle grace that belied his strength, he placed his hand upon Sasuke's head, and entered his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Demons of Fire and Wind**

 **Vs**

 **Lord of Pestilence**

Naruto sat within his mind-scape, drenched in water from the sewer like prison that held the Kyuubi No Kitsune. He sighed and looked around, his eyes lost in the darkness of the tunnel. He shivered at the sensation of being watched, which was not normal in his mindscape, and drew one of his Kuni from his hip pouch.

"Hey, Fox, you there?" Naruto queried as he looked around in the dark. He Kept low to the floor, his stance an act to keep his profile as small as possible in the darkness around him. Some of the things he noticed immediately was that he did not have his normal orange jumpsuit on; or his black undershirt, gray boxers, or his blue sandals. Instead, he had on what looked to be gray armor that covered his whole body.

From head to toe, he was covered in gray pieces of armor; he had pieces on his forearms, upper arms, chest, back, shins, thighs, waist, shoulders, ass, and crotch. Each piece was more of a circular piece that encompassed his limbs while the parts that wrapped around his chest were more like a pressed barrel. Everything was very snug and moved minimally on his body.

Under his armor was a thick, black, bodysuit. It felt like a second skin that wrapped him comfortably. When Naruto further inspected his body within the shadows, he noticed that his hands were also armored; even though he could clearly feel the cool metal of the Kuni he gripped in his hand.

"What the hell is going on here?" He whispered. He was more than a bit perplexed as to the origin of the armor he wore. He would have asked further questions about it, but his inspection was cut short when a large multi-limbed creature crawled out of the dark and struck at him with inhuman speed.

Naruto only just dodged out of the way; a small scratch being his only penance for not paying attention. When he looked at the monster fully, he almost puked his guts out in horror. It had four limbs, each ending in a different appendage; be it claw, hand, pincer, or tentacle. It was bloated, green, and covered in pustules that glowed a toxic looking yellow. It had over a hundred eyes where its upper face would reside in the center of its misshapen body. Where there should have been a mouth, there was a gaping maw of needle-like teeth. Each tooth was at a different angle; up, down, left, right, diagonal, horizontal, perpendicular, it did not matter, it was facing that direction.

The monster howled angrily at having been denied its prey. Naruto saw this and prepared for a fight. He drew a handful of shuriken from an unnoticed hip pouch and tossed them at the monster's eyes. His ploy to blind the creature was only half successful, as only a few eyes were blinded. What he did not count on was being assaulted from behind by another such creature.

The new opponent latched onto his arm with its claw and pincer. In an effort to break his arm in twine, it tried to flex it in half. Naruto howled in pain, flipped around, and used his momentum to drive his knee into its face.

"FOX! I need help here!" Naruto screamed. He tossed an exploding Kuni at the recovering monster and used the one still attached to his arm as a shield from the explosion. He felt the shock wave toss him, and the monster attached to his arm, into the air. They both landed roughly against the far side of the dark sewer tunnel. Naruto tossed the writhing monster off himself and hopped to his feet.

Naruto looked to the monster he had tossed the exploding Kuni into; he was shocked to find that it was still intact and standing. Nary even a scratch marred its disgusting surface as it roared bloody murder at the blond Uzumaki.

"Why won't you just die you bastards!" He bellowed in annoyance. Naruto instinctively reached over his shoulder and grabbed hold of something he didn't even realize was there. Naruto's fingers wrapped around the handle of this mystery object and gripped it tight. With a firm tug, the object came free; he hefted the mystery item over his shoulder in a hammer swing straight at the closest monsters head. What came over his shoulder was a large hammer.

Naruto was surprised by this, as he had not felt its presence upon his body when he had fallen into his mindscape. Its presence was more than just a surprise for the blond ninja. Though, when the weapons tapered bell-shaped hammerhead slammed into the monster, and subsequently, blew it apart; he decided the questions could wait until later.

"Taberu Kuso to shinu!" Naruto yelled and uppercut the monsters head with the return swing of his new hammer. He followed through with the swing and spun with the momentum. He flashed out with an armored kick to the monster's midsection and sent it flying. With a dull thud, it smashed into the opposite side of the sewer and burst into a disgusting yellow-green color.

Just as he was about to celebrate his win over the monster, the other one flew into view and slashed at his head. Naruto ducked under the vicious swipe and rolled to the side. He came up in a crouch and swung his hammer in a wide arc at the creature's legs. With a sickening crack, the monster came down. It roared at the blond and began crawling towards him in a vicious manner to continue its assault on his person.

Naruto brought the hammer up high overhead before he dropped it in an ax swing at the creatures center of mass. The monster, split in twine from the force of the strike, splattered its sickly green ichor across the floor and turned the murky water a dark disgusting green.

"What the hell are these things!" He growled. The blond ninja whipped at his brow with his off hand, he flicked away the sweat that had gathered there. He sighed at the mess and took count of his situation.

"Okay, I'm in my mindscape. There are large ugly fuckers running around in here like it's for free. I'm wearing some cool looking armor. I have a massive hammer thing that looks like it could ruin even Granny Tsunade's day. And finally, I haven't heard from fuzzy buddy, yet. Some weird shit is going on here, and whatever happened on that mountain is the reason for this shit," Naruto groaned in frustration. He was not one for critical thinking, but when shit went down hill he had to pick up the slack.

"Alright, first off let's find Kyuubi, then we can both figure out what the fuck is going on with these creepy bastards," Naruto laid the Hammer across his shoulder in a half ready position. "Alright, which way should I go?" He took out a Kuni from his pouch and tossed it lazily into the air.

With a clink, it touched the ceiling of the sewer like tunnel and came back down with a splash. The Kuni pointed off to the right-hand side of the tunnel. Naruto sighed, picked it up, and stowed it in his pouch. With a quick look around, he charged off into the distance.

"Okay," Naruto mumbled as he waded through the murky water, "Let's get some shit straight. I'm in my mindscape. That's a no brainer since I don't hurt like hell. Things have invaded my mind … Very gross things. I'm decked out in some kickass armor, I still have my ninja weapons, I also got this sick looking Hammer thing that's as big as I am, and I have no idea where I'm going anymore," Naruto slapped an armored palm to his face in a self-deprecating manner. He looked ahead at a quintet of divergences in the tunnel. Left, right, and center were three of the arched entrances. To his back left and back right were two more.

"Alright, let's try something...," Naruto huffed in indignation at how idiotic he had been. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" He cried as twenty-five puffs of smoke appeared around him. Pleasantly surprised, Naruto quickly motioned them off towards the tunnels in groups of four while he had the last five stay behind. They formed a defensive circle around Naruto encase of some kind of surprise attack.

"What do you guys think about all this?" Naruto asked his clones. He knew they were him, but it had always seemed that each one gained a different personality from himself.

"Well," Clone 1 began, "If things continue like they always do when you get knocked out, then we should be finding the Fox soon enough."

"Granted, that's if we don't get our asses killed first!" Clone 4 snarked disdainfully.

"Okay negative Nancy, don't need you bringin' us down with your attitude," Clone 2 chided playfully. Clone 4 huffed and flipped Clone 2 the bird. Clones 2 and 3 laughed while Clones 1 and 5 flipped off Clone 4. Naruto, while in the middle of all this, rubbed his face with a gauntleted hand. He gave his clones a deadpan glare that told them to knock it off.

"Alright, let's get into guard pattern B!" Naruto ordered. The clones formed a tight circle around him, each with a handful of Kuni and Shuriken in each hand. They waited and waited for a signal from their clone companions in the tunnels.

They waited and waited, each getting that much more impatient with the situation. As of yet, no word had been given. This just made it that much more difficult for the group to concentrate on the task at hand.

"Kage bunshin no Jutsu," Naruto muttered. He created three new clones and sent them around the room. Each was armed with a luminous tag that emitted a soft light. The clones each placed a trio of these seals around all of the tunnel entrances and a few on the ceiling. With the area laminated, it was now easier to watch for any-incoming monsters.

"This is taking a long time Boss; what should we do?" Clone 7 asked.

"We wait. I believe in myself, so I will believe in my clones. You all should know how that is," Naruto smirked at his creations. All of them nodded dejectedly, each knowing how he felt about his clones.

Boom. The ceiling shook and dust fell to the dank floor. All the Narutoes looked around expectantly at the different entrances but saw nothing. Boooom. The ceiling shook again and a brick this time fell from the roof and splashed into a puddle. Clones 7 and 8 both looked at Naruto before they began forming their own hand-signs. Ten seconds later they had formed over twenty hand-signs.

"Suiton – Mizu Kabe!" The two Narutos launched their hand forward at the first three entrances and created a large wall of water. It was moments later when the three tunnels collapsed in on themselves. Then a large furred hand appeared out of the smoke and dragged away the debris it had created.

" **Kit! You in there!** " A low rumbling voice growled from beyond the opening. Naruto and his clones all were surprised at the voice, but not all too much after having seen the huge damn hand bust in the roof.

"Hey Fox, we're in here!"

" **We?** " He asked. His face lowered to the floor. When the huge face of the Kyuubi looked inside and saw the ten Narutoes standing around in a defensive formation, he blinked. " **Get out here Kit, things have gone to shit in here!** " The Demon Fox grumbled. He pulled back and got out of the way. Once he moved he revealed the twenty or so other Naruto clones that had been sent ahead on the other side.

They saw that the clones were battling more of the grotesque monster things from before, along with some other more asshole loosening creatures.

"What in the world!" Naruto shouted as he charged through the hole with his hammer held high.

" **Hoped you could tell me that kit!** " The Kyuubi growled as he smashed his massive claw against a large bloated creature with massive horns and blood-soaked fists. It looked reminiscent of a large bipedal boar. The horns and blood just gave it a demonic look that made the Kyuubi look like a kitten by comparison.

"TEME!" Naruto shouted as he bashed in a few heads. He dropped his hammer, flashed a few hand signs and then unleashed a wave of water that reached up to the Kyuubi's chest on his enemies. They were all pushed back by the wave, though the large monsters were only staggered by the blow.

"Taju – Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto yelled. Over two thousand clones popped into existence right then, the cloud of smoke that covered their creation dispersing quickly. Every hundred clones was dressed in a different color trim around their armor. This was something that threw the Kyuubi off a bit when he saw them but figured it was something that the Kit had done.

"Second platoon, form right and hold, second through fourth, take the left and push! First with me. Tenth through twentieth, push center! Twenty-first through twenty-eighth, reinforce the right! Twenty-ninth through fortieth, enforce where needed!" Naruto shouted orders in quick succession. The Fox watched in half-amused awe as his container pitched a defensive measure against their grotesque enemies.

Hey Fox! Do you know any Dotton Jutsu!?" Naruto asked as he bifurcated a monster with his Hammer. He was surrounded by fifty clones that had orange trim on their shoulder pads, each one held a copy of Naruto's hammer in their hands.

" **Why!?** " The Fox asked. He swatted a group of a hundred pustule covered monsters away, their putrid bodies exploded into bits of gore and bile that painted the ground.

"We need some kind of walls! Just something to hold them back!" Naruto smacked a monster away and gripped at something on his hip. What he pulled away was some kind of boxy looking thing with a trigger. He reflexively pointed it at the nearest monster to him and pulled said trigger. What happened next shocked both him, the rest of his clones, and the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

The fact that the weapon barked, almost literally, three times at the monster was not what surprised them; its what came after. Three yellow lances flew from the end of the weapon and impacted the creature, the trio then exploded in a messy shower of gore and other disgusting refuse.

Naruto looked at his weapon, then back at the, now dead, monster, back to his weapon, back to the monster, and back to the weapon once more before he shouted in excitement. He fired the weapon again at a new target, hitting it square in the face. Its head exploded in a show of gore and bone; the disease riddled beast fell to the ground, dead.

"Everyone, new plan!" He shouted as he clambered atop a nearby pile of dead bodies. "Fire at will!" He shouted; he hefted his hammer towards the heavens and then struck it towards their enemies. His clones yelled and charged with a new found determination to kill the monsters that had invaded their creator's mind.

At the sight of his clones continued assault on the enemy, Naruto clambered down and headed towards where he last saw the Kyuubi. His guard soon formed up on him, each with their own boxy weapons in their left hands and their hammer in their right. The ambidextrous ninja was more than pleased with his imaginary weapons, but could not even fathom where all the new ideas for weapons, armor, and tactics were coming from. He wanted to thank whoever it was that was helping him, but he was also wary of their help as well.

"FOX!" Naruto called as he traversed the ever greener field of battle. 'Where are you!"

" **Over here, Kit!** " The fox yelled as he landed atop a massive bloated creature wielding a massive butchers knife. It was putrid and decaying, its intestines leaking out of it form the holes in its rotten flesh. Its breath was like a thick miasma that killed any clones that got near it. It was a wonder that Fox was even standing up to the thing as it easily tossed him off.

" _ **You shall fall before Grandfather Nurgle!**_ " The thing proclaimed. It was the first time any of them had heard the things speak a coherent word, let alone sentence, and were now wondering who in the realms of the dead Nurgle was. " _ **Grandfather has seen you, and wishes you to become his newest child of decay! Accept his wishes and-gurk!**_ " The massive creature of the plague was cut off when _both_ the Kyuubi and Naruto hit it with their respective ultimate jutsus'. Naruto had, somehow, managed to throw his Rasengan at the massive thing while the Fox had launched his own Biju-dama at the thing.

"S **H** U **T-** U **P**!" The two powerhouses cried in unison as their attacks each blew a part of the massive sentient beast apart. The things left arm, and much of its massive gut, were obliterated in an instant thanks to the Biju-dama, and the right side of its skull and most of its face were gone thanks to Naruto's Rasengan. A massive dust cloud of fallen rock and pulverized brick covered the area where the monster landed. Their view obscured, both chakra users became tense.

"Is it dead?" Naruto asked the Fox.

" **Not yet Kit,** " The Fox muttered.

Both combatants got into their respective stances, the Kyuubi's a massive four-legged interceptor style stance that would enable it to use its great agility, and Naruto's simple to drop brawler stance. The jinjuriki of the Kyuubi held his Hammer in a low guard towards his leg, ready to bring it up in a hay-maker shot should he need it. His gun, pistol, thing, was held at the ready, aimed at the spot that he knew the monster to be in.

AS the massive dust storm subsided, the two were treated to the obscene sight of the monster bodily stuffing what was left of its intestines back into its body … back through its gaping maw. Both the Chakra monster and its container gaped at the grotesque show of self-cannibalism.

"Am I seeing that right?" Naruto asked almost rhetorically of his furry companion.

" **Yes, yes you are, Kit. I'm just trying to figure out where it all goes,** " The Fox asked himself as he watched the monster pack away more than half of its won body into its gorged maw. Its needle-like teeth were covered in viscera and gore as it continued to pack away its blown apart chunks of rotted flesh and maggot infested gore.

"How do we get rid of this thing?" Naruto muttered disparagingly. Both of their most powerful attacks had done a tremendous amount of damage, but in reality, it was all for naught. As the monster devoured its own putrid flesh, it had begun to grow back its missing mass. Right before their eyes, the monster of Nurgle, regenerated its disgusting flesh.

"Okay, new plan...," Naruto cringed as a sick popping noise echoed around the cavernous room.

" **What kit?** " The Fox asked.

"First, do you have any fire jutsu? And second, how much could you produce?" Naruto asked his larger than life friend.

" **Of course I know how to use fire! I am the Kyuubi no Yoko!** " The Fox said with mock indignation. " **I could expel enough fire to turn Suna into a glass top!** " He growled.

"Then let's burn it with fire!" Naruto smiled evilly. He began going through several hand seals just as the Fox caught on and took a large breath of air.

" _ **What are you fools doing, nothing can be rid of the great grand father nurg-!**_ " The creature was stopped cold as a great torrent of fire tore from the massive maw of The Kyuubi no Yoko. The torrent was then enhanced by the great gust of wind produced by the young Uzumaki. With the power of the fire, potentially tripled, the forces of nurgle were swept away in a great tide of burning flesh and ash.

Nothing that was not apart of the duo made it past the great fire wave.

"That was … AWESOME!" Naruto shouted. He jumped up and down with his arms waving in the air like a maniac. He smiled insanely up at his tenant, his eyes bright with some unknowable emotion while his smile elicited a knee jerk reaction of happiness.

" **That it was Kit,** " The Fox chortled blithely. He eyed the blond at his feet with a narrowed gaze suddenly; this set Naruto on edge, though the smile never left his face.

"What's up Fox?" the blond Uzumaki asked.

" **Where did you learn the '** _ **Great Breakthrough**_ **'? I do not remember you learning it,** " The great demon Fox inquired.

"Oh, I remember seeing Asuma-sensei using it during one of our mission with team ten. Just thought it would be best to use it. Besides, this is my mindscape right? Anything I want to happen should happen!" Naruto laughed sheepishly as he laced his fingers together behind his head. His grin lessened some as he tried to piece together what emotion it was in the Fox's eye. He could not tell if it was pride, or anger that hid behind its crimson orbs.

" **I am surprised, ningen. Not just for the fact that you pulled it off, but that you made it so powerful,** " The fox smirked grandoisly down at the blond, his great canines glinted in the low light of the cavern. " **You may not know this, but it is near impossible to create a jutsu in your own mindscape. It takes a level of concentration, that even the great Tobirama Senju struggled to obtain, to produce even the simplest of jutsu's. But to create them on such a scale needs a mental fortitude that not even he possessed. I'm impressed kit!** " The fox laughed at Naruto's gobsmacked face. It was the best thing he had ever seen in his long tenure as a prisoner.

"Um … Um … Thanks," Naruto gulped at the very thought of being better than one of the great Kage's at something.

" **Why did you never put that mind of yours towards bettering yourself?** " The Kyuubi suddenly asked.

"Um, I did. Didn't you ever wonder why I wore Orange?" Naruto asked. The kyuubi stopped, pondered his words, and then blinked. Struck dumb by the very notion of that hideous color being a boon to his containers training was a blow to his pride as a thinking sentient being.

"Yeah, I mean, how do you think I got so good at hiding so well. I hid from the Anbu, pranked the living hell out of everyone with an ounce of power I thought better than me, and stole the Hokage's hat at least a half dozen times. How do you think I survived the years with everyone trying to kill me?" Naruto asked, a bit thick headedly as he scratched at the back of his head. While Naruto tried to think of what else he had done that people seemed to overlook, the Fox was busy trying to figure out how he had misjudged the boy before him so badly.

' _ **How did I not see this? Just on his chakra reserves alone, he should be Kage level... Forget the fact that he has only ever used my own chakra once, and he was emotionally broken when that had happened. He's taken on ningen that were almost the level of Hashirama … Damned chakra battery that he was. Not to forget the skill of his own teammates and his sensei. He's taken on the likes of his villages strongest members, even their Hokage, and humiliated them thoroughly for years. He only ever failed when it was something that was out of his grasp; mentally, physically, or control wise. If he has the skill to accomplish it, its as good as done, and even then he works to finish what he started.**_ '

" **Kit, you are one scary ningen,** " The Fox muttered somberly as he watched the boy stare out towards the impromptu barricades they had erected. The Fox's eyes caught that the boy was watching how his Clones were busy checking the area for any survivors of the firestorm.

"Think we are done here Fox?" he asked.

" **I think so Nin-Naru... Kit,** " The fox tripped over his words for a second but resigned himself to calling the blond by his favored nickname.

"Hmm?" Naruto looked up at the Fox's stumble. He saw that it was something that the fox himself was internalizing, and thus deemed it none of his business. "So, what now?"

" **We wait. That is, unless you want to fight me?** " The Kyuubi No Youko asked with a sinister grin that hid his true feelings.

"After seeing what you could do with just a breath of fresh air? Hell no, I don't want to die today-thank you very much!" Naruto laughed uproariously. This caught the Fox off guard for a moment, but he soon recovered and laughed along with him. "We should work together more often, Kyuubi-san."

Caught off guard once again, the Great Demon Fox shot the blond child a look of surprise.

" **And why should we do that, Kit?** " he asked.

"Because, I think we'll die here if we don't," Naruto quipped. This through the Fox for a loop, but the honesty in the blond Uzumaki's words made him stop short of the derisive response on the tip of his tongue.

" **Why do you think we will die?** "

"Remember what it said? It wasn't the true form of whatever it was that attacked us in here, just a ' _Son_ ' of a bigger bad guy. And if that is just the lesser of them, we need to be on guard. We need to get stronger, faster, smarter, and just all around a better bad-ass than we are now!" Naruto declared with his fist held high towards the great big fox.

"What do you say, Fox, partners?" He asked. The Fox blinked, and blinked again. He sat, blinked, and stared at the boy for a few moments more before he even did anything. When he did react, his reaction was not what Naruto had thought it would be.

" **Alright Kit, but call me Kurama from now on. No partner of mine will call me anything else!** " Kurama, smirked deviously at his partner. At that, he brought his own massive fist down and bumped it against Naruto's.

It was in the blink of an eye that things then changed. Everything went dark, Naruto could feel a comfortable surface underneath him, and his body was sluggish from some sort of trauma. He could feel a dull ache from most of his body. He slowly spread his concentration throughout the rest of his body, and found that he was not missing anything, and instead felt like there was something new to his body that he hadn't noticed before.

"Nice to see you awake again Dobe," a very familiar voice said from his left. It was happy, kind, and nothing like what he remembered it to be.

* * *

"Welcome to my mind, Falkus," Sasuke's voice reverberated through the empty landscape. Falkus was instantly on guard. He had never seen somewhere so empty before, nothing like this within the minds of his brothers, it set his teeth on edge.

"What is this place Sasuke," The giant in white-gray armor growled. He materialized his staff into his hand with a blue flame and a simple bolter in his other.

"This is the entrance, to my memories. I took you past the defenses I have set up for any intruders, and let you closer than you would have gotten on your own. Now, let me show you, everything!" The world around Falkus boomed with the overwhelming sound of Sasuke's voice. His head rung like a beat gong, and his eyes blurred when the room seemed to spin out of control for a second. He saw so much pain after the lights came on, as memories played. He saw happiness, in the oddest of places. He saw how an entire group of superior human beings were brought down by one of their own. He saw how the blond they had just started turning into an Astartes was more than just a child. He saw how the two children, no … Soldiers … had become almost brothers and then had their bond of brotherhood twisted by some abomination of science.

He saw how in their earlier days they had bested, almost single-handedly, a force of humans with abilities similar to a blooded Astartes. He marveled at the two as they called upon powers that should have been impossible to wield; saw how they used these powers to decimate their enemies.

The might of their strength and valor was the stuff of legends among the Astartes, a group, smaller than their own tactical squads, taking on an entire army, winning, and then free a country. Something that would have been akin to a squad of Luna Wolves taking on the armies of a single planet, on their own, winning, taking it under their wing and performing compliance upon it. Acts like those were unheard of, and simply not done.

He later saw how the blond, without any apparent urging from an outside source, had come to his brother's rescue and then, with some hidden power, protected them both from the warp. He saw how in the duo were tossed through the warp, almost untouched by the wiles of the vile place. He saw the creatures, he saw the doom that could have befallen them. He could not believe his eyes when they were dumped atop the mountain.

"How old are you, Sasuke Uchiha, second son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha?" Falkus asked as he watched the boy's memory self fight, and best, Garviel with his bare fists.

"I'm fourteen years old. Naruto's the same age as me," He answered freely.

Hearing that, Falkus almost blanched. Fourteen years old, and they had done things worthy of a full-blooded Space Marine. The battle experience rolled off the boys in waves now that he knew what to look for. Their muscles were taut, even while asleep, and Sasuke's eyes were always looking for a weak point to exploit should the need arise.

He was more than pleased to see such skill, though it also pained him to see such innocence destroyed so early in one's life.

"How do you smile, Sasuke?" he asked.

'I don't," Sasuke answered with finality, "Naruto does it for me. I told you, he's the only one that has ever understood me. And here's the kicker, I don't even think I know the half of his pain… And I've lost everything I ever had," Sasuke stared eerily at Falkus, his eyes almost dead and devoid of emotion.

Falkus stared for a second, just as his mind tried to truly comprehend what the boy was telling him. When he did, he felt a shiver run down his spine, something he had never, in his hundred and a half years of service to the Emperor, felt before. He then made a note of Sasuke's words, and vowed to peer into the mind of the boy they had just, unknowingly, inducted into their ranks.

"What do you mean, exactly, Sasuke?"

"Naruto has more pain in his heart than anyone I've ever known," he stated as if by rote. The fact hit Falkus in the face, as it was hard to piece the knowledge of such pain with the smiling face he had seen in Sasuke's memories. "He also has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. His strength of will is the stuff of legends."

A long silence engulfed the room after that. Falkus, wrapped up in his thoughts. Sasuke, privy to his own. Neither wanted to talk with the other, not out of spite, but out of courtesy for the others thoughts while they mulled over the new development coming into being before them.

Falkus tried to understand the powers that the two boys seemed to possess. Powers that he knew were not apart of the warp, nor any society he knew of. They were human, in the basest sense of the term, and had enough genetic similarities with the Humans of his universe to be able to reproduce should that have ever been what they wanted to do. Granted, with the boys already enhanced body, he doubted that he would be able to reproduce anyway.

"I think it is time to leave. I have seen your heart. I have looked upon tour pride, your hatred, your love, and your character, and judged you clean of the warp. Your heart, while filled with hatred, true hatred, is something that concerns me," he ignored the sound of Sasuke snarling, "I find that it is a righteous anger. It is an anger that befits the station of an Astartes, of a warrior of the Imperium of Man. If you would let us, we would mold you into a warrior without peer, save for those you make yourself. Do you accept this offer, Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yes. I accept your offer," Sasuke replied with a solemn air. But, what was left unsaid was the threat that should they betray him and his, he would tear them apart. Falkus shivered at the prospect of creating their own self-destruction. But, he also saw the greatness that the two young men would bring to the Legion and his Primarch.

* * *

As if from a dream, the legion Librarian, master of his psychic power and eternal seeker of knowledge, stumbled from his upright position in front of Sasuke. He blinked a time or two and zeroed his gaze in on the flint-like eyes of the young Uchiha. He chuckled, at first, then guffawed, and then outright laughed. The entire time he did this, two things were happening; first was there Sasuke was trying to not smirk at the incredulity the massive marine was showing, and second was how flabbergasted Loken was being as he watched the mesmerizing show.

For the Tenth Captain, it was a rare sight to see a Librarian laugh, mostly because of their stoic demeanor and how they viewed the world around themselves. So, to see one laugh, and at a something the child had done inside his mind no less, was simply amazing to him.

"Are you done yet?" Sasuke asked. His eyes, though filled with irritation, held a bit of mirth at the giant man's laughter.

"Ye-yes! By the Emperor boy, it is a wonder you didn't do more against Loken here!" Falkus exclaimed. He belted out another laugh and gently placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You'll have to show me how fast you really are before we make you an Astartes... The simple fact you and your friend survived the warp untainted, sans the fact your friend has beat back a warp-spawned infection, is a miracle!" Sasuke had the decency to turn a bit red at this, both in embarrassment, and an odd sense of accomplishment.

"Survived the- how in the frozen wastes of Cthonia did they do that!" Loken asked, incredulous at the fact two small boys traversed the warp, and for their troubles all they got was a bit of poison.

"Aye! Loken, you should have seen some of the things these two young men have done, they could put some of our own men to shame!" Falkus exclaimed. "Aye, these two have toppled nations, fought monsters the likes of which would have been found in the swarms(*), and faced opponents that would very well have beaten our Father Primarch! They are more than blooded, they are battle tested!" Falkus boasted of the two boys' skills. Sasuke grew ever more embarrassed to have someone else, besides himself, laud his praises.

"Wha- I mean, how! They are but ten, maybe twelve at best, how have they done these things?!" Loken asked with disbelief.

"They were taught to fight since they were, what," He looked to Sasuke.

"Six, we were taught since the age of six to be shinobi, ninjas. Warriors for our villages that went out and either brought in revenue for our Hokage, village leader, or defended our village from invaders. I know I remember showing you the invasion of Konoha … And how explosive everything was," Sasuke hinted towards Falkus.

"Ah, yes, the Invasion. Watching that through your eyes was … Exhilarating. Loken, did you know they can create energy from within themselves? Not how I or my brethren harness the Warp, but a separate energy from everything. From what I gathered from your memories, Sasuke, it flows through everything … Does it flow even here?" The large man asked the boy, his rapid changing of subjects leaving both Loken and Sasuke in the dust.

"Um … Yes, I have felt it here. Though, it's not as strong as it was in my … World?" Sasuke asked the man. He was not sure if he was on another world, or what.

"Yes, you are on a different planet, and most likely in a different galaxy to boot. The fact that you can still feel your planets base energy means you have not traversed the fabric of dimensions like I had thought, but simply the vastness of space... I think, the trickeries of the warp can be fickle. For all we know, it may have created this energy here just so it could confuse us. There are many possibilities," Falkus ranted off, his mind trailing into unexplored territory as he puzzled out the meaning behind the two boys' appearance in heir universe.

"That was... Enlightening?" Loken oddly said. He had meant it as a statement, but with how uncertain he was, it instead came out as a question.

"Yes, yes it was," Sasuke affirmed, confirming that at least one of them understood the babble that had escaped the Librarians lips. Sasuke turned away from the two large men and faced the window. As he peered through it, he watched the two Apothecaries work tirelessly over his friend. He contemplated the information he had gleaned from within the Librarians mind, something he had learned to do after spending so long getting his own mind probed by the Yamanaka in his home village. What he saw surprised him.

An entire race of people, all brothers, all warriors, all ready and willing to aid in almost anything that would harm the rest of their people. It was what he had envisioned the Uchiha to be when he was a child. But he also saw the veins of deceit and betrayal creeping in, even among the ranks of these … Luna Wolves. He had seen what betrayal had done to his village, the invasion, his brother, and almost himself. He would not allow that to befall those that had saved his blond brother.

He had also seen the rest of the Imperium from within Falkus' mind. He saw the Emperor, as he was before the rest of the legions had been swept up and given their Leaders, their Primarchs, their Fathers. He saw how the man had led his people, like a true Hokage. He also saw how powerful the Imperium was, and how vast. He saw the monsters arrayed against it, and the atrocities they had had to commit to save their peoples, and defend against the monsters hidden in the dark.

It was almost no different to what the Hidden villages did on a daily basis to safeguard their borders and their people. The only difference was the almost unimaginable scale that the Imperium fought on.

"Captain Loken?" Sasuke asked over his shoulder. He heard the man shift in his direction. "When they are done with Naruto, I want to see him."

It was more of a statement of fact that he _would_ see him, and not a question of if.

"I will make it to where you can see him soon, but remember, he is healing. He will not be able to do much else besides sleep and talk if he wakes up."

"That's more than enough for me, and I wouldn't put down for the count just yet, he's very resilient that way," Sasuke smirked as he said this, knowing for a fact that any sort of hospital setting would almost _make_ the blond menace heal fast enough to get out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **They did what?**

…

 **To my what?!**

Three days passed before Naruto even showed a bit of movement. At first, everyone thought that he had simply twitched, but upon closer inspection, he had indeed flexed his fingers. This continued on for a few hours before he began to move more than just his fingers, and later his whole hand. Loken, Flakus, and Tarik were able to see how Sasuke had retreated into himself the longer Naruto stayed in his healing coma. It worried them, but to their surprise, he would come out of his self-constructed shell whenever Naruto did something to warrant a gathering.

What none of them knew was that he was just reverting back to his old self, becoming broody and self-contained as he contemplated the ways everything could go wrong for himself and Naruto. But it was not until the ninth day after that something extraordinary happened. Naruto woke up.

This just happened to be on the day that Horus Lupercal was also present to find out what his Mournivals newest project was. When he saw that it was two young boys, one of which was already outfitted with some of his legions augmentations, he grew ever more curious. So, with his curiosity piqued, Horus joined his two captains and single librarian within the viewing stall adjacent to the medical wing. It was there that he made his first discoveries.

"My lord, it is good to see you!" Tarik smiled winningly as he walked up and hugged his Primarch. Horus did not react for but a split second, but soon embraced his son. It was an odd feeling to hug such a giant, but with his own stature being what it was, it did not put him off much.

"As it is you, Tarik. Now tell me, what is this I hear about two boys being inducted into the Legion? I do not mind the act itself, but the secrecy behind your work seems to raise some unwanted questions."

"Ah, that would be because they are not normal humans, my lord. They have been subjected to some rather unique circumstances, and as such have been under surveillance this entire time. Their loyalty to each other is almost legendary as well. The blond one, his name is Naruto, would willingly die for the black haired one, who is called Sasuke. Their bond is similar to that of you and your own brothers my lord," Falkus explained. His words confused Horus for but a moment, as he was surprised that anyone else would have the same kind of bond he and his brother Primarchs shared.

"There is so much we can tell you about them, my lord; but it would be better if you heard it from their own lips," Falkus cast a small smile at his progenitor. It was a simple thing, but Horus saw the multitude of emotions that made it up. Fear, excitement, joy, anticipation, hesitation, and admiration. All of which was directed at him, and at something else he had yet to discern.

"Very well then, I shall meet them, and share words with them myself," Horus spoke with finality, his words deep and heavy, but laced with care and understanding.

Meanwhile, inside the medical bay, where Naruto sat up on his bed with Sasuke at his side. The two talked of things that had transpired during their eight-day residence on the new world. Naruto, for his part, was not entirely surprised to learn that they had traveled to a new world, let alone a new galaxy. He had seen the same twisted horrors of the Warp that Sasuke had and knew that nothing in their homeworld held anything like the monsters contained beyond the veil.

The closest he had come to was Kurama, and he was a massive fox, so he didn't exactly count.

"So, what exactly did they do to me. You mentioned implants?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah. Well, whatever it was that had gotten into that wound I gave you seemed to have been from that rainbow colored hell we stumbled through. They had to implant several organs into your system to boost your bodies ability to fight the disease. From what I understand of it all, they have started you on the path to becoming like them," Sasuke hastily stated. His words strung together so fast that Naruto almost didn't understand them.

"What do you mean, become one of them?!" He cried in confusion and horror.

"Well … The guys that found us, aren't exactly normal. They stand at almost thirteen feet tall, wear some pretty beefy looking armor, and can take one hell of a punch," Sasuke absentmindedly rubbed at his left hand at the memory of punching Garviel's helmet barehanded.

"EH!?" Naruto asked half star struck, half horrified. "What! They sound like monsters!" Naruto waved his hands around wildly. His wild gesticulations seemed oddly comical to those that could see him through the one-way glass. But without their laughter being transmitted over the vox, no one was the wiser.

"Oh shut up, wait till you meet them, they aren't all that bad," Sasuke growled. Naruto immediately shut up at that and gave Sasuke a wide-eyed look. That is until he broke down into hysterics and laughed at him.

"Coming from you, that must mean they are at least half as broody and stuck up! Bring it, I've dealt with your Emo butt for nearly ten years, what's the worst they could do!?" Naruto challenged his brother.

"Eat you I suppose...," Sasuke trailed off, a wicked smile spreading his lips as he shot Naruto an evil look.

Seeing this, Naruto blinked and then became rather pale. "You wouldn't," He looked to his friend pleadingly. All he got in response though was a rather evil sounding laugh. He shot him a look of horror, and then went on to lament his choice in friends and how he wished at least Shikamaru was there.

While their little battle of wills and drama went on, neither paid much attention to the entrance of the infirmary. With a soft hiss, the door shunted to the left and right granting entrance to a giant among giants. This monster of a man wore simple robes made of thick wool, and pelts of Chthonian wolves draped across his shoulders and back.

This monster of a man was clean shaven, both of face and scalp. His face was rugged, like a broken stone of marble, it was cut in many different angles; though each cut, each blemish, and each scar, only added to the handsome appearance that he held. He held a stature of almost fifteen feet from tip to toe, and more than four feet from shoulder joint to shoulder joint. His steely gray eyes held wisdom and understanding befitting his age, and then some. They held a veritable rainbow of emotion within them, kindness, compassion, love, curiosity, happiness, excitement, fear, controlled anger, and a deep sense of loneliness.

He was burly, but not overly muscled. He was strong, not just in body, but of mind, will, and heart. He was the epitome of what a Primarch was supposed to be, the very pinnacle. He was the Emperor's favored son, his shining light in the darkness of the void, the first and only heir to the Imperium.

His name is Horus Lupercal, and he is the father of a legion. And this man, this superhuman, now stood off to the side of Sasuke and Naruto with an amused look on his face as he watched them bicker and insult each other as his own sons would do. For him, it was a surreal moment, to just stand and watch such small beings behave in such a similar way to his own men. It brought a smile, yet profound, smile to his large face.

"Sasuke, do you think we will ever see home again?" Naruto asked his friend with a bluntness that would have made Horus chuckle if he did not also want to hear the raven-haired boy's answer.

"I don't know Naruto. But, I do know that if we become these … Astartes … we will have enough time to figure out a way home once everything is finished here," Sasuke answered to the best of his ability.

"Hmm … everyone we know might as well be dead by then. But, if what you said is true-"

"-And it is, idiot-"

"-Then we might as well stay and help repay their help. Seeing as I couldn't fight off that disease, or whatever it was, without them," Naruto grumbled a bit towards the end, his pride wounded at how defenseless he had seemed.

"Oh cheer up baka, at least they aren't trying to kill us," Sasuke smacked Naruto in the arm.

Upon hearing the boy's mention of experimentation, Horus frowned. He knew of some people's need to experiment on living beings, namely Humans, but with how disdainful the boy had said those words made a certain image suddenly make itself known in Horus' mind. It was of an old campaign he had fought in with his Father. The two of them had deposed a tyrannical leader who had experimented on his entire population and turned them into beasts of war and lust. It was appalling and gut-wrenching, and something he did not wish to see ever again.

"Hello boys," Horus suddenly spoke up. His deep baritone resonated within the room. It surrounded the boys and acted like a warm blanket that gently draped itself across their shoulders. They were surprised by his presence, but not overly so. This was a surprise for Horus, as he thought he had moved into the room unbeknownst to his two charges. With that proven wrong, he was shown how great their skills of detection were.

"No need to be alarmed boys. My name is Horus Lupercal, and I mean you no harm," Horus stated evenly, his charming smile doing its best to put them at ease with his presence.

"Damn, When Sasuke said you guys were huge … I didn't think he meant bigger than some of the toads," Naruto, the blond gaped. Horus questioned mentally what the boy meant about toads when referencing his height, but brushed it off as a question for later.

"Haha, ah, I know, my height is a bit intimidating," Horus chuckled. He was not surprised by their reaction, but what the boy said next stumped him.

"Oh, no! That's not what I meant. It's just not normal for someone to get as tall as you are … Naturally, that is … I know a few people that can get a few stories tall. I was just surprised is all. Sorry if I insulted you!" Naruto waved his hands frantically as if trying to wave off any sort of ill-mannered thing he had said. But his actions simply surprised, and amused, the giant among giants. He smiled benignly and waved off the boy's concerns.

"No, it is simple misunderstanding child, no need to be anguished with it."

Horus took a step forward, his clothes ruffled as they skid across the ground around his ankles. He was now only ten feet from the boys. Not that he wanted to get much closer, but the two proved to be much more than what they first appeared to be.

"So, you are the Primarch Falkus and Garviel were talking about," Sasuke smirked indulgently as if he knew something the father of thousands did not. "They spoke highly of you, and not just of your military prowess," The black haired boy stepped forward, and did something unexpected, from both parties perspective. He offered the massive man his hand to shake. Horus eyed the hand inquisitively as if it were some odd puzzle that needed to be broken down and put back together to be fully understood.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke or Sasuke Uchiha. I am the last son of Fugaku, last of the vengeful few. I am pleased to meet you, Horus Lupercal, Son of the Emperor, favored Father of wolves," Sasuke half smirked, half smiled, as he looked up into the warrior king's gray eyes.

"Well met, Sasuke Uchiha, son of Fugaku, last of the vengeful few. As you know I am Horus Lupercal. But I am only just the father of wolves, nothing more, nothing less," Horus humbly stated. He knew that his father thought highly of him, but he would not indulge in those thoughts. He knew that they would poison his mind if he were to dwell on them.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto … um, I don't know who my parents were, but I'm the number one most unpredictable ninja in my village!" Naruto smiled brightly over Sasuke's shoulder as he suddenly appeared there, hanging off the boy. Hours blinked for a moment, as he tried to figure out when the blond had moved, and when he had gotten so close to him. He had been ten feet away, as Sasuke had moved to him for their proper introductions.

So, it stumped him in a hard way that he could not remember the exact moment he had noticed the boy missing from his bed. Nor did he remember when the boy had moved the ten feet between them to join himself and Sasuke in their little introduction.

The one thing he did know, was that the blond's bright smile was infectious. Horus soon found himself smiling at the two. One, for his professionalism, the other for his blunt personality and bright personable demeanor. It reminded him so much of his brothers' own, Johnson and Russ for his bluntness, along with Fulgrim and Sanguinus for his pure happiness and exuberance. He was like a bright ray of sunlight to a dreary world … Something that surprised Horus as he had never noticed how drab his life really was.

"Well then, Naruto Uzumaki; I say to thee, well met, and welcome!" Horus chuckled aloud. Both boys smiled at his deep laugh, even as the baritone resonated within the very fibers of their bones.

Back up in the observation room, Falkus and Garviel gaped in unabashed shock at how easy the two boys got on with their progenitor.

"So, Sasuke told me I'm being turned into something?" Naruto asked with a confused look directed up at the massive man.

"Yes. From what I have gathered, and heard, you came to us with one of the worst warp induced illnesses we have ever seen. It was a miracle that you had not succumbed to the poisonous miasma sooner. IT was through the technologies of my father and his scientists that we were able to save you. Granted, it was more us just helping you so you could save yourself," Horus informed him. The Primarch noted that the boy had turned slightly pale at hearing that he had been operated on, but regained his color when he learned that everything had turned out for the better. Horus also noted that the boy was apprehensive as if he could sense the 'But' coming. "But, with this process comes a price," Horus paused to take a breath. "You have been unofficially inducted into the ranks of my Legion because of this. This process does much to the body of a normal human being. Would you like me to tell you what it is this all means for you?"

"Um, sure … I guess," Naruto mumbled with a bit of trepidation.

"With this comes the changes I mentioned. You will become faster, stronger, more resilient, you shall have no equal, and you would never be alone. You would be genetically superior to almost anything in the known galaxy, and you would have no weakness of body or mind."

"Think of Kakashi-sensei, we'd be like him, but so much better. Maybe even as good as … _him_ ," Sasuke trailed off for a bit before he spat the word out like it was poison. Horus blinked at the name and title the raven-haired teen used. Horus blinked at how Sasuke had spat the word ' _him_ ' out and knew then that whoever this ' _him_ ' was, the boy hated him. Horus could almost feel the hatred rolling off the boy, but paid it no mind as he heard Naruto squawk and shoot his black haired friend a look.

"Kaka-sensei?! But he's a Jonin! And Itachi's an S-Rank missing nin! That bastard almost killed us!" Naruto shrieked. Sasuke shot him a glare at the mention of their failings against his brother, but made no move to scold him, he knew he was right. He also knew that Naruto had every reason to be skeptical of such a claim, not too many people could claim to be stronger than Itachi Uchiha.

"Who is Itachi? And why do you fear him?" Horus asked, intrigued by the sudden in he had into their pasts.

" _He,_ is my older brother. That bastard killed off our entire clan!" Sasuke seethed suddenly as if the reminder of what his brother did was enough to set him off, and it was. He almost frothed at the mouth as his mind flew back over all the past events that dealt with his oni-san.

Naruto on the other hand just sighed and palmed his face. He looked up at the incredulous face of the Luna Wolves leader and shot him an embarrassed smile. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head before he explained.

"Horus, Sasuke's brother massacred his entire clan, his family when we were both about five or six years old … Ever since then the bastard has tried to kill both Sasuke and I a handful of times. Nearly killed a few of our teachers too when he went looking for me one time. Sasuke's been hell-bent on getting revenge on his sorry pale ass for the better part of a decade now," Naruto explained. He chuckled nervously as he witnessed the differing emotions cross over the Primarchs face. They were subtle, but with how much Naruto had had to learn to read people in his youth, he knew what to look for. The things he saw were surprising; surprise, shock, anger, compassion, understanding, pity, reluctance, and a host of other emotions. Some emotions Naruto had no idea as to what they were, having never seen them before or having them directed at him.

"How could someone, let alone family, butcher their own like that?" Horus asked, his tone was even, but Naruto could make out a small inflection that gave away his emotional state.

"He said it was to test his strength, that bastard! He said it was all so he could prove his worth! He even showed me how he did it!" Sasuke growled, his eyes flashing their Sharingan red as his anger overtook him.

Horus blinked in surprise and almost took a step back. He stopped, though, when he saw the blond reach out towards the last Uchiha.

"You're being an idiot again Sasuke," Naruto grumbled before he smacked him upside the back of his head. Sasuke tumbled forward and face-planted into the cold steel floor. Naruto chuckled at his friend's carelessness, the irony of which did not come to Naruto. Horus, on the other hand, stared at the raven-haired boy with interest, and a bit of trepidation. But, seeing as his chief librarian and captains of both the Tenth Company and Second Company respectively had done nothing to harm the boys, he held his judgment till later.

"What is that with his eyes?" Horus asked. Naruto shot him a confused look while Sasuke dragged himself from the floor. With a grunt of acknowledgment, Sasuke looked into Horus' eyes.

"They are called the Sharingan, or Copy wheel eye as Falkus would call them. They have the ability to photographically copy any and all information viewed by them into my brain. That means any information, any fighting technique, and any sort of power that uses chakra. I could, if need be, copy how someone talks, walks, acts, and feels, and become them," Sasuke told him. His voice was a bit strained, but he was back to normal. His eyes, though, were still the same blood red with black tomoe. Horus, while not visibly shocked by this revelation, was internally shocked by what the boy could do. It was a step up and beyond what any Astartes could ever hope to do, and the boy was not even inducted into the rank of his Astartes yet! But, before he would believe any of what the boys said to him, he would hold them in a sense of suspended disbelief.

"And where does this ability of yours come from?" Horus asked.

"Well, legend dictates that it came directly from what you might call our god ... but everyone mostly says that he was a simple man that was granted exceptional power because of his own mother's misdeeds. She had eaten this fruit that had supernatural powers attached to it and then began to rule the world with an iron fist. She was supposedly fair and just, until people began to become upset with her rule, or something just as asinine, so she started blowing everything up in a fit of rage, her son came out and overthrew her, gave everyone his powers, wondered the world, had a family, and his sons split the power that resided inside him and manifested their own within their eyes. One was the Sharingan, and the other was the Byakugan... I think, Its been years since I heard the tale, so I'm not really sure what all happened in the legends. But the short version is that I'm descended from the elder brother, somehow, and another clan, the Hyuga are descendants from the younger. I think," Sasuke trailed off. He paid no attention to the incredulous look that Naruto was giving him, and simply stared into the gray eyes of Horus as he wove their ancient history to him.

"This sounds interesting," Horus pondered the Uchiha's words quietly. He was intrigued by how their people obviously saw a man that could have been their god, the fact that they prescribed him to be a mere mortal as something to look into. "How is it obtained now, is the power lost?"

"No, as long as I produce an heir, a child of my blood, then I will pass on the Sharingan to the next generation. As long as my seed is not altered into invalidity that is." Sasuke looked at Naruto and frowned at his bare chest. Horus caught the haunted look and sorted the immediate question away for later, better in private than out where things could get unnecessarily heated.

"That is an interesting turn a phrase, Sasuke," Horus upturned a brow at the young boy before him. His mind raced with the potential uses that the two boys could supply him; almost limitless in their potential if what he had heard and seen was true, and not some murmurs farce. "Why would you say anything about being genetically altered? Specifically altered enough to be infertile?" Horus could already see the answer in the young man's eye, even as he opened his mouth to say the words he knew. And Horus already knew what he would say to him. A small smile, imperceptible to any that had never met him, graced his lips.

unbeknownst to him and his Astarte sons, Naruto and Sasuke caught the night imperceptible smile.

"Well, how can I get stronger than this dead last if I don't go through the same treatment as him?" Sasuke asked. His arrogance faked and perfect in the Primarch's eye, just enough to assure him that the boy was serious, but not enough to make him even think about reconsidering any thoughts he might have had about the boy.

"HA! You will both make fine Battle Brothers! My Father will be pleased with you both... Very pleased!" Horus laughed loudly and not at all fakely at the audacity of the boy.

"Then we get to be like you?!" The blond haired boy asked with unbridled excitement. Horus laughed even louder and, none too gently he regrettably might add later in private conversations, slapped Naruto over the shoulder with his massive hand. Surprisingly the boy kept his seat, though the sound of popping bones and the sudden sag of his shoulder did tell that the Primarch had just dislocated the young man's shoulder.

Naruto blinked at the dislodged limb and subsequently fainted. Sasuke blinked and tilted his head a bit in silent contemplation at the sight of his unconscious brother. Horus stared blankly at what he had done and internally ran in circles. It had been hundreds of years since he had done something so foolish, but the fact that the boy had taken most of his strength and simply just got a dislocated shoulder from it befuddled the massive man. No other man had ever done that, as most simply died on impact with his hand or were flung far away from him by the simple force of the gesture.

"Well, It seems we finally found a way to shut him up... Dislocating a limb does it simply enough I guess," Sasuke quipped nonchalantly. He then barked a laugh and looked up at Horus with his blood red eyes. "So, when do I go through with the operation?" A brow quirked up in question as he stared Horus right in the eye.


End file.
